Get ready to let out a giant "Oh c'mon, really!?" sigh because the following news might be a touch hard to swallow. First off, whether we want one or not, Hollywood will be giving us a feature film based on the Marmaduke comic strip character (aka that big dog that gets into all sorts of trouble). Okay, fine, a movie about a dog that's up to no good – we get it, we've seen it, we can live with it.

 
 
But what's bothersome for some about this particular movie is that Owen Wilson is going to provide the voice of Marmaduke. Yup, in this film Marmaduke can talk…and the movie will follow a family who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog who, of course, causes mischief every step of the way. Would Marmaduke purists rather the dog not be able to talk? Probably. But in reality it's a film that will cater to kids under 10, so does it really matter at the end of the day whether or not the dog can talk? Hold that thought …
 
… In other somewhat related news, remember The Berenstein Bears? They were a family of animated bears who've been around since 1962 and have produced some books, television specials and a couple of TV shows. Well, Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy wants to bring the bears to the big screen with a mix of live action and animation in a film that would find the bear family co-existing among folks in the "real world" (which kinda reminds me of what they're doing with The Cleveland Show right now, as it features a family of bears who live next door to the main characters and hate their lives).
 
If anyone can be successful with the whole humans interacting with animals thing, it would be the guy who had Ben Stiller hosting a party for a bunch of museum pieces that suddenly came to life. It would come down to the look they gave the bears. Would they be CG animated? Would they look crappy like Scooby Doo? The effects in Night at the Museum were pretty spot on, so if they can make that work, hopefully they can make this work, too. What do you think?
 
Which project sounds more appealing to the kid in you: A Marmaduke movie or one that follows The Berenstein Bears?